Hey guys....recently I found a new tea store here in Colonial Williamsburg and they have a decent selection of Rishi loose leaf. I picked up an ounce of their organic silver needle (which one first place at the World Tea Championships). I have been playing around with it the last few days and have noticed a slightly smoky note that I was not particularly a fan of. Well, needless to say, as with any tea I think you should brew at least 1/2 an oz before you decide to never get it again so I began toying with my temp. a bit. I typically use about 3.5 grams/4oz in my 4oz gaiwan and brew at 165F. I decided to drop to 155F and voila! The closest taste and smell I can describe that I am getting is a slight seaweed and soybean note. It smells quite delightful and tastes amazing. I suppose the reason I am writing this is becuase I am quite familiar with whites and I think a lot of people get quite frustrated when they get a new tea and brew a few cups and it doesent turn out how you think it should or you dont pick up the tastes/smells/notes that others have described. Just play with the variables and experiment and have a little patience and usually you will be rewarded. Whether it be a little more leaf or just changing your temperature by 5 degrees, you never know what you might find!

Yeah....I think it is really easy to blame the tea when you are either A)New to teas or B)Really experienced with particular types. For one, if you are a newbie you try and follow whats on the back of the tin/box/etc. and let be honest, brewing tea is not like putting together a model airplane...piece A doesent always slide into piece B....and you think to yourself "I followed all the instructions so this must not be the tea for me". Then, on the opposite end of the spectrum you say to yourself "I have brewed thousands of cups of this and tried many variations of this particular type of tea, so it must be a bad batch, bad harvest area, etc.". God forbid I DONT actually know everything! haha I wasnt by any means about to give up but was getting slightly frustrated as I was expecting a lot from this tea as it is organic and did win the award this year AND it was a brand new sealed bag the lady at the tea store opened for me so I was anticipating an awesome brew session the other day and low and behold I just needed to drop a few degrees and the problem was fixed! I just hope that some newbies read this and know that you can even be someone that people look to for advice on a speciffic type of tea and still have something to learn and still make mistakes and certainly, as I think is a very important part of life in general, be able to admit when you made a mistake, learn, and grow from it! So there you have it! Happy brewing all!

Chip--I think the tasting/review/comparison for silver needle would be an excellent idea! By new batch do you mean fresh harvest? I know it is the 2008 harvest becuase I made the lady give me the bag and read it and examine the leaves first!

It would be great as our next tasting event, like Ali Shan is now! It's one where most of us have a lot to learn, there are a lot available, and it isn't super expensive. Plus Adagio has respectable in-house offerings.